Phoenix rises from ashes to the FTSE 250

SERIAL entrepreneur Hugh?Osmond has seen his Phoenix Group life insurance consolidation vehicle promoted to the FTSE 250.

Phoenix said its £1.2bn market value would make it one of the larger players in the index.

In a quarterly rejig, Home Retail Group, Segro and Cable & Wireless Worldwide will drop out of Britain’s FTSE 100 later this month. The three will be replaced in the blue-chip index by buyout group Resolution, pump manufacturer Weir Group and car parts maker Tomkins.

Companies outside the FTSE 100 that grow to rank among the 90 most valuable British companies are automatically promoted, while the FTSE 100 members with the lowest value or which fall to 111th spot or below drop into the FTSE 250 index of midrange stocks.

The latest review used closing prices from Tuesday but the changes were confirmed by a FTSE committee yesterday. The index changes will be brought in after the market closes on 17 September.